A few weeks ago at work, I received a note saying that I would be allowed to keep my economic stimulus money and I didn’t have to return it to my company. Say what? I learned for the first time, that perhaps there was some US style rebate to all residents of Japan. I didn’t really think I was a resident but then I again I (or, more correctly, my large, international employer) did pay a ton of income taxes to Japan last year.

Last week I got the official notification that I was to receive a stimulus check from the Japanese government. Yes, believe it or not, it is my first stimulus check from any government. I never qualified in the US – not that it’s such a bad thing.

I will receive 12000 yen, or about $120.00. Hey, that’s a shinkansen ticket to Tokyo and a beer, provided of course I don’t ride in first class. I’m not sure how $120 is going to stimulate the economy but I will spend it. If I had children I’d get $200 for the first and $360 for each subsequent child, depending on their age. Don’t quote me, I’m going off of memory. Well, my rebate is much less than .5% of the total taxes I (my company) paid last year. So it doesn’t seem like much of a stretch. To me it just seems like a lot of money spent preparing, printing, and processing the stimulus. Isn’t there a better way to spend the money?

It is a very rainy weekend here in Nagoya. I’ve managed to get a haircut, clean my apartment, read a book, catch up on AppleTV, watch a movie or two and it is only Sunday afternoon. Perfect time and weather to update the blog. I guess I need to study Japanese as well. Tomo is coming to Nagoya, I’m taking a day off Monday, and we are going to a concert on Tuesday.